Ever since Super Mario Bros. hit the NES in 1985, Nintendo's portly plumber has reigned supreme as a prominent face in video games. With the introduction of Mario and the gang came a new subgenre of video games, dubbed the "mascot platformer," in which a marketable lead character hops and bops his way through a colorful world. The 80s certainly saw plenty of games come and go that tried to steal Mario's thunder, but it wasn't until the 90s that game companies began to usurp Mario's throne in earnest.